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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-TE-15P - 1 DATE: December 9, 2002 TO: Historic Landmark Commission FROM: Stephen C. Richardson, Planning Manager SUBJECT: Request for approval of a tax exemption for the property located at 1608 Orange FILE: 02-TE-15 STAFF REPORT The Planning Manager recommends approval of this request for a tax exemption based upon the evidence presented within the application complying with Article IV of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Beaumont. A historical tax exemption is for a term of ten years and holds the existing taxable value of the structure at its present value. The property is currently appraised at $125,090. The tax exemption applies to the improvements only. David Bienvenue, the property owner, is renovating the "Ogden House" at 1608 Orange. In November, the Historic Landmark Commission and the City Council approved a loan application for this property. Renovations to the three buildings on the property include repairs to both the interior and exterior of the carriage house, servants quarters and main house. Total costs are estimated at $155,000. The dollar amount of the improvements to the buildings exceeds the current value of the entire property. The Planning Manager recommends approval based upon the evidence presented within the application complying with Article IV of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Beaumont. 1608 Orange is on the National Register of Historic Places. The property is a contributing structure to the neighborhood. Its renovation will significantly contribute to the revitalization of the Heart of the City neighborhood. Mr. Bienvenue has a proven track record with the renovation of the property at 1645 Orange. Exhibits are attached. CPAi ELVIEW I SD. Pax : i-281-452-$Q70 DK: 4 ' J1 15:51 F. 02 Ogden Hose 1608 Grange Street National Register of Historic 'laces 1992 Known as both the Ogden and the Stuart home, it was built by Le-inuel Ogden in 1903 in the heavily wooded SO acres he owned in the David Brown survey. The home Was named "Idle Hours" at the time it was out in the counrry with the only access a board watkway for carriages. It was mainly used as a weekend house, keeping a downtown residence at the corner of Main and Wah Streets where the current City hall is today. The Ogden's were a prominent Beaurnont family who came in the 1840s .from Kentucky and New York. Later their acreage was subdivided into lots to fonn Ogden ,Subdivision, one of the first developments of a suburban nature with restrictions as to lot size and type of buildings and donated the site for Odder► Elementary School to the city. The homes qualities as well as significant Southem Classic architecture are ar_ irreplaceable resource for Beaturiort. Still sttutding are the out buildings, a carriage house, servants quarters and a green house. The 1911 fire neaps reflect the property was also the site of the East'Texas Floral Company. I recognize the importance of preserving the Ogden House and its historic value. The property is in need of substantial rehabilitation to protect the historic value. The property at 1608 Orange meets all requirements of section 25-58. Sincerely, David Bienvenu 1645 Orange Street Beaumont, Texas 77701 �.nn,vivt�virw _.11. rdX;1-zU1-4'Dl-6.J(V 11BC q Statement of costs or the restoration to all buildings interior/exterior • Carriage House &Caq)ort 40,000.00 • Servants Quarters 20,000.00 • Main House Exterior 35,000.00 + Main House Interior 60,000.00 Estimated protection of completion date of restoration • Exterior- Carriage House, Carport & Servants Quarters -July 2003 • Exterior- Main House- September 2003 • Interior -Carriage House- July 2003 • lnterior-Servants Quarters- September 2003 + Interior Main House- December 2,003 Property Use • Carriage House/ Garage- apartment/ storage & parking • Servants Quarters- guest house/ground keeper • Main House- residence r Authorization to Inspect the Property As the owner of the property located at 1608 Grange Street, I give full access upon notification to inspect the property on an as needed basis. t n�'y' 'l i�rnr��-s-.✓ David Bienivenu December 4, 2002 O Ogden House j 1608 Orange Street Carria a House New Roof 1 decking as needed Replace rotten or missing exterior boards New garage doors Treat termites Repair water damage Repair termite damage Update electrical & lighting Repair CAH 'e Carport Repair/replace rotten boards Level structure New roof Electrical (lighting & outlets) Servants Quarters New Roof Replace 1 repair rotten boards New porch (front) Rebuild side porch Level house Repair termite damage Repair CAH Treat for termites Electrical Grounds f� Security Lighting Replaced damaged sidewalks & curbs Fencing Trim trees from structures Main House Level front porch & balcony Replace 1 repair balcony railing Replace Capitol Replace Rotten wood on rear storage Replace gutters on rear storage Paint exterior trim Rebuild screened porches (balcony & rear) Repair damaged soffit & rear columns Check for roof leaks rr THE STUART-GRIFFIN HOME by Edithye Roberts Capreol A stately and beautiful old home located in Beaumont at 1608 Orange Street, whose spacious halls have re-echoed through sixty- seven ,years with the joyous sounds of many festivities, ceased to be a private residence in July 1970. In former years it was known successively as the Ogden, the Smyth, and the Stuart house, the last named in memory of the Jesse William Stuart family who occupied it for the greatest length of time. In more recent years it has been well known as the Stuart -Griffin home, for Mrs. Helen Stuart Griffin; daughter of the late Mr. & Mrs. Jesse I.1. Stuart, and her husband, Mr. bee Gerald Griffin, a Connecticut yankee who has be- come a confirmed Beaumonter. The house is exteriorly constructed of dark red brick and its walls are of one foot thickness. The most distinguished structural elements are the four white, plain, and smoothly finished Ionic column!;, which rise from plinth -like pedestals resting on a low veranda to the ceiling of the second story balcony and support a simple entablature whose cornice is distinctly motived with a band of oblong dentils. Surnrountinq the entablature is a-.tptiangular area or pediment, both slopes of which are corniced also with dentfl or- nament, and the tympanum of which is elaborated with'a design of chaplet and flowing ribbon in basso--rilievo. The veranda, extending the width of the front of the house and half its depth on either side supports a second story balcony by means of four Ionic solurnns pro- portioned to half the size of the major shafts. The balustrades which rails the balcony is only little less imposing than the columnar treatment of the grand facade itself and the two sides of the edifice. Interiorly, the house contains two large central hallways, a formal drawing room, a long library'and music room combined, five master bedrooms, four of which are adorned with massive marble fire- places; an old fashioned kitchen; a ballroom constituting the entire. third story; a large utility room with inward sloping galls from roof to floor to conform to the shape of an outdoor cistern which, before city water lines were built in the neighborhood, caught rainwater for home use. There are also stables and a carriage house still standing which for the past thirty five years have stored Beaumont Symphony Society ball decorations, promotion placards no longer used by the United Appeals canvassers, Magnolia Garden Club equipment, Zeta Tau Alpha sorority accoutrements, and Neches River Festival paraphernalia. Other outside buildings include a two story servants quarters and a miniature house in which girls for successive rjenerat ions have played wiLh their dolls. The entire house with grounds and gardens Fronts 2-00 feet in Orancie Street (formerly Bibh Street) and extends for 3f10 Feet in depth a'10111 what is now Irma Street (formally Itata St.ro(q). However, the story of an old house is neither more nor less interesting than the story of its tenants or the people who once inhabited it. Their pace of life, their joys, their sorrows, and i more particularly their style of living are vividly reflected in the lingering atmosphere of the place. The house was originally built in 1903 by Frank Tipton Smith of Beaumont for Lemuel Petman Ogden, a native of Beaumont (1843) and his wife Cynthealia McClure of Mississippi. He was the son of Frederick Id. Ogden, a Kentucky lawyer who came to Beaumont in 1841 and Mary Wilcox Ogden, a New Yorker. At the time of its completion Mrs. Ogden still preferred to keep her town house at Plumber 807 Main Street, and hence she aptly named her new dilatory dwelling house "Idle Hours." The Bibb Street location was then in the hinterlands and accessible only by horse and buggy over mud roads, or by board sidewalks or planking. The city had not grown to its outlying neighborhoods and the Ogdens gave their name to this particular purlieu which soon became known as the Ogden addition. In the mouse lived the four Ogden children, Likens P., Mittie (for Mississippi); Katie Mae, and Kittie. Also in the house the last named, Kittie Ogden, married young Mr. Autrey Greer of Memphis, Tennessee, a nephew of Mr. Hal W. Greer of the firm Greer, Greer (Robert A.) and Noll, well established attorneys who had come to Beaumont in 1884 from Holly Springs, Marshall County, Mississippi, via Corsicana. ( Mr. Hal W. Greer had actually been a Texan since 1877, at'which time he emigrated from Hernando, Mississippi, the capital city of the Tennessee border county of De Soto). The first child of Autrey and Kittie Ogden Greer, Cynthea l , who ►qa s to become Mrs. Ross Wilder of Beaumont. The Greers' other children were Betty (Mrs. Charles" Ellis) and Autrey Greer, Jr., and these were the only Ogden grand- children. Mr. Lemuel Putman Ogden died in 1908. His widow sold the house October 14, 1911 to Mr. Benjamin Rush Norvell who, on February 2, 1912, in turn sold it to Mr. John 8lewitt Smyth. (Deed records of Jefferson County, Texas, Volumes 124 & 126, pp. 411 and 235). "`` J. Blewett Smyth was the son of George Washington Smyth, Jr., Ye who was born in Jasper County, June 19, 1842. Returning in 1865 from service in the War Between the States, he had married Rosealtha Blewett, also of Jasper county, Texas, and become one of the pioneer lumbermen of the eastern Texas region by floating logs down the Neches River to Beaumont. The junior George 1•1. Smyth removed to Beaumont in 1877. Mr. Smyth carried on the work of his father's business, the George U. Smyth Lumber Company, an eastern Texas operation, and by the year 1901 had absorbed the assets of the Sabine Tram Company of Deweyville, Texas.. It was Mr. J. 8lewitt Smyth who had completely transformed the the interior decor of the Ogden house by replacing the entire wood- work with elegantly carved mahogany, a hardwood as exotic to Eastern Texas then as when it was first introduced to the 18th century English woodworkers and cabinet makers and gave the generic name to the age which signalized their individual productions. The Smyths converted a downstairs bedrooin into a large livingroom and library. Mr. J. Blewett Smyth by his first wife, Mrs. 011ie Seale Smyth of Jasper, had two sons--Blewett Allen Smyth and George { l W. Smyth III --and three daughters, Mildred, Rosealtha, and Mary Frances. After the death of the first Mrs. Smyth, Mr. Smyth married Miss Mattie Camp of fort Arthur. They were the tenants of the house until its third transfer of oGniership in 1923. One of the most interesting and brilliant social gatherings of the pre -World War I era in Beaumont was the wedding of Miss Mildred Smyth.to Mr.. Lenoir M. Josey of Beaumont. He was the son of Mr. Jack Evander Josey and his wife Kate Lenoir Josey , both of Huntsville, Texas, before coming to Beaumont in the early part of the century. (The first of the Josey family in Texas was Mr. Jack Evander Josey's father, Evander Theophilus Josey, an early denizen of Huntsville, who was the father of seven children, viz., Jack E. of Beaumont, Julia -Mrs. James L. Shepherd, Will C. of Beaumont, Robert A. of Tulsa and Houston, J.P. of Kerrville, E.M. of Huntsville, and Mrs. J. Robert King of Huntsville.) By this time, Mr. Blewett Smyth, in addition to his duties as head of the Sabine Trani Company, had become an officer of the Texas Bank and Trust Company and was one of Beaumont's first citizens. In 1912 he had been the principal organizer of the Uvalde Rock Asphalt Company and was spending much of his time in San Antonio, its headquarters. On the 22nd day of May, 1923, J.B. Smyth and his wife Mattie Smyth deeded to Mr. J.W. Stuart, a contractor of the Magnolia Refinery Company since the earliest days of its existence, the Ogden homestead tract (Deed records of Jefferson County, Texas, Volume 229,.p.98). Idle Hours once again received a new revitali- zation. The Stuarts brought into their new home two young children then on the threshold of the rising post -World War I generation, A.L. (Fete) and Helen who would prove to be aniong the most- popular of the new generation of Beaumonters. At this time, too, the ex- tensive gardens were reworl,od, landscaping was planned, and a lower pitched the roof 'was su4)sti toted for the original one. It also seemed as if the ihajeStic oaks planted in the Ogden's time reached their full glory and gave to the old house a more antique and ser- ene appearance. 'The type of aristocratic, ante bellum Southern dwelling came to full realization. On October 31, 1934, the halls again resounded with hymemean celebration and gayety when the wedding reception following Miss Helen Stuart's marriage to Mr. Lee Gerald Griffin was held there_ And since then, in the years following, the same grand halls have served the Griffin's daughters Lea and Gale for their wedding receptions; when Miss Lea married Mr. James Perlitz, and when Miss Gale married Mr. Charles Kelly. Through the years, the Stuarts and the Griffins have been the hosts to their many Beaumont and near -by friends at an annual Christ- mas party, and the sight of the dazzlingly lighted Christmas tree shining through the recessed leaded glass entrance doors and side panels has inspired the holiday eve for many passer-by as well as incoming guest. The hospitality extended was of a kind to justify the thoroughly ante bellum Southern image conjured up by the appear- ance of the Greek revival mansion. Another regular social event has been the reception and luncheon held following the parade for Beaumont's only annual carnival cele- bration --its Neches River Festival. During some of these festivities the Griffins at Idle Hours have been host to Governors Allen Shivers, Price Daniel, John Connally, and Preston B. Smith. Most all promin- ent business and professional men of -the Texas Gulf region have at some time been guests at receptions held for their own coterie. Of this kind was the social held for more than 200 members of the Garden Club of America. The union of Idle Hours' classic granduer with the Griffins' affable geniality made the setting appropriately felici- tious. In October 1970 Idle Hours changed its character from a private dwelling house to an eleemosynary institution. The Griffins at that time, acting in the best spirit of modern social consciousness, really were at the same gesture carrying on the house's long service of warm hospitality to the community. The house changed its name also to Land Manor and became a refuge or temporary residence, a halfway house for the mentally ill of the region who have needed a time for re -adjust- ment between hospitalization and the return to independent living. Therapy, counseling, and vocational guidance are administered to sufferers from emotional or mental illness who have been needlessly hospitalized or detained in hospitals longer than necessary. The residents of Land Manor are referred there by parents, physicians, casework agencies, private hospitals, special education departments Of public schools, psychiatrists and psychologists, Beaumont Neuro- logical Center, Rusk State Hospital, and the Texas Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The house is administered by an Executive Director, house managers, a secretary, a social worker, and a con- sulting psychiatrist. In these ways, Beaumont has fulfilled its destiny in a very important and merciful department of social welfare, of maintaining its capital position in the Texas Gulf region -- through the benevolence of two of its outstanding citizens, Helen Stuart and Lee Gerald Griffin. After sixty-seven years Idle Flours, now Land Manor, still stands a monument to the enduring elements of pioneer American citizenship and to the ideal of Beaumont character, its enthusiasm for the best expressions of civic, social, and cultural leadership in its citizens, illustrated by the builders, the tenants, the inheritors of Idle Hours -- the Ogdens, the Norvells, the Smyths, the Stuarts, and the Griffins. �. How contradictable was the alluringly descriptive name Mrs. L.P. Ogden of 807 Main Street gave her country retreat amid the oak groves of post-Spindletop Seauniont'. ADDENDUM TO: " THE STUART-GRIFFIN HOME"; TEXAS GULF HISTORICAL RECORDS, VOLUME VII, NUMBER 1, NOVEMB ER 1971. The facilities described by the attached copy of the article on the "Stuart -Griffin Home" continues to be used as an eleemosynary institution in the tradition of the house's ]ong service of warm hospitality to the connunity. The house became "a home away from home" for mentally restored adults who need a transitional period between hospitalization and the return to independent living. The house contains the main offices of Land Manor, Inc. and resi- dentail facilities for 20 to 25 mentally restored adults. The servants quarters, now known as Sunrise Cottage, houses seven mentally restored adults who have been through the transitional program but still require limited supervised living. The carriage house was used as recreational facilities for the residents and a storage area until fire destroyed the structure on March 10, 1977. Land Manor was entered in the National Register of historic Places and was afforded the privilege granted under The Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Land Manor, Inc. has developed plans to rebuild the carriage house maintaining the historical design and material used in the original structure. The rebuilt carriage house will be used as a recreational facility for all of the halfway houses operated under the corporate umbrella Land Manor,_Inc. as well as offer the use of the facility to other non-profit organizations of Beaumont. r e SURVEY LEGEND' —E—E— ELECTRIC LINE ® CONCRETE SURFACE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT = — _ = WOOD FENCE A.C. —PL--PL— PIPELINE ® COVERED AREA • P P POWER POLE CHAIN LINK FENC'F —r—T--- TELEPHONE LINE ROCK OR CRAVEL STREETLIGHT X— DARBFD WIRE PENCE CLIENT: _ DAV11)1ENVEN_UE CF#: 73SET5( 942C ---_ OVERHEAD 1ITNUE A N 40.59' 14" W 80.00' TELEPHONE (60 R.O.W.) n, (CALLED N 40'47'00" W 80.00') _SET "X" FOUND 318" IN CONC N 40'59� 14" W 120.00� — i4- IRON ROD PCB TRACT B CALLED N 40'47'00" W 120.00' FENCE FOOTING-1 :-. N'. •, FOR CORNER 5 V PARKIN V 39.00' OVERHEAD ELECTRIC $ h oo A.C. v CO r CONC CO WALK o CO D r0.o0' CONC ONE STORY CINDER BLOCK SCALE: 1 " = 50' y BUILDING ON SLAB �y 10.00' TRACT B A. C. 1/] O A.C. o 0 q h In SET 112" IRON ROD 00 CHAIN LINK FENCE A �} O NOW OR FORMERLY CLERK FILE y Of99904f0?3 m JCRPR 0 �V WOOD FENCE SET 1 /2" IRON ROD COV'D TWO STORY CONC '6 WOOD 93 ` 'RESIDENCE ON SLAB WOOD A.C. 36.49' BUILDING N ON DIRT I IF 21.00' r0.35' / CG •o° WOOD Cl ONE STORY PORC v° WOOD 21.00 RESIDENCE (4.20' p ON PIERS q N M 26.80' 48.40, o a q p a COV I s.i0'o WOOD 5.84 I Co CON t4 39.00' � a CONC SET 1/2,, I 1q, CONC gWALK IRON RO11b11"' _ :j N 40'47'00" W 80.00' a M M a.BrJ A.0 to e SIETAL TRACT A. a srAlRs� 11// v ,It A4 �a e .] �Z5 't� CONC METAL STAIRS AND LANDING w r�r, c0 M o, W -� o CF�y � p 11.00' N `ti • 0 m r0.90' a s"NccasED i s0' PORCH o n 0 A. C. a co N c29.00' n -ThrO 00 STORY s.9a' o 0 BRICK e M RESIDENCE m "_ 7' ON PIERS 5.90' e O m q h 0 48. 10' COV' D Vy O P. P. � Q L0 CO W CJ OVFR11PAD ELECTRIC 1 W W w P. P- FOUND 3/8' S 40°47'00" E 119.92' S 40°47'00" E 80.00' IRON ROD (GALLED S 40'47'00" E 200.00' FOUND f" (CALLED S 40'47'00" La' 80000.) p ) IRON PIPE ,{(J0 1 0 ORANGE STREET POINT OF BF.CINNINC (60' R.O.W.) TRACT A DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES: LOCATE CORNERS AND SHOW IMPROVEMENTS SURVEYOR'S CERTIFICATION: TO THE LIENHOLDERS AND THE OWNERS OF THE PREMISES, SURVEYED AND TO THE CHICAGO TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY The undersigned does hereby certify that this survey was this day made on the ground of the property legally described hereon and is correct, and that there are no discrepancies conflicts, shortages in area, boundary line conflicts, encroachments, over -lapping of improvements, easements or rights of way, except as shown her•eori, and that said properly has access to and from a dedicated roadway. Dated JULY 3 2002 The above trar.l being located at 1608 ORANGE STREET, BEAUMONT, TEXAS 77701 and being described as A 1.38 ACRE._ Z7BAICT 0117' QF THE DAVID BROWN SURVEY AND PART OF DLOCK 16 OCDEN ADDITION ris recorded in Volume 2 . Page l - of the MAP Records of JEFFERMY County, Texas 1n rarror•dnrrr r with the Flood Insurance Rate ,flap of the Federal Emergency Ma ement Agency, map reference shown, the tivhlr r•f tract ties in the flood zone noted. Locahon on map was determ. a by scale- Actual field eI vatio, Lot deternrtrrr d. un.tess requested. FAUST Engmeering and Surveying, Inc , does not arrant or subscribe l acr, cracy ur .cal+• aj sold rnap. � � � J. County City/Rural JEFFERSON BEAUMONT 5. USGS Quad No. Q94-111 Site No. ZOD1 FE 2. Name Land Manor Half-WayHouse Idle Hours 6. Date: Factual Est. c, 190� Address 1608 Orange Avenue 7. Architect/Builder Contractor 3. Owner Address Land Manor. Inc. 8. Style/Type Classical Revival 1990 Franklin Street Beaumont'7T701-5039 4. Block/Lot Q den Lot 1 Block 16 SE 5-5 9. Original Use DOMESTIC -Sin le Dwellin Present Use HEALTH CARE -Sanitarium 10. Description: Two story brick, hipped ceramic tile roof, monumental 2 story portico with dentils, round Ionic columns, Spindle balustrade around second story porch, central door with sidelights and transom on to second story porch, two 1/1 sash windows with transom, second story screened porch on side facade, central first story entrance with elaborate sidelights and transom, Ionic columns on each side of wood door, 1/1 sash windows with transom on each side of door, brick foundation. 11. Present condition Good. House is very well -maintained., 12. Significance: An excellent example of high style architecture in the Classical Revival style, it is historically important as the former home of the Ogden family.' * Presently listed on the National Register of Historic Places 13. Relationship to site: Original Moved Date (Describe Original site) 14. Bibliography 15. Informant 16. Recorder Leslie Sharo Date 07 PHOTO DATA Black and white 35 mm negative YEAR DRLIR ROLL FRME ROLL FR!¢ 91 1 1 25 03 to VIEW: N.E. Facade RECORDED BY: Leslie Sharp . 3 DATE: 07-26-91